Should We Ban Benefits Being Spent on Booze, Cigarettes and Gambling? | BBC Question Time

Sep 24, 2026 | Would the Conservative’s proposed welfare policy of  preventing the long-term jobless from spending money on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling lead to cultural change? Watch what the Question Time Panel in Cambridge said, featuring Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds, Conservative Helen Whately, Liberal Democrat Josh Babardine, journalist and broadcaster Andrew Neil, and political commentator Ash Sarkar.

The Conservatives really have lost their way. If you want to get young people into work, the system needs to present them with work opportunities which are simply too good for them to refuse. Almost all normal people want to get on in life. And most people are gregarious at a young age as well. Therefore, if there are plenty of well-paid job opportunities around, these people and their friends will stop wanting to sit around smoking and drinking and generally being lazy and wasting their time; instead, they will want to seize the opportunities which are being presented to them. The others, being gregarious and seeing their friends doing so well, will want to follow suit. But for this to happen, the economy needs growth. So it is growth which the government needs to concentrate on. Impressive economic growth should be the focus of the government’s attention. The rest will take care of itself. — © Mark Alexander